| Description |
A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. A pocket chronometer number 980 found in an abandoned boat at Erebus Bay, King William Island, in May 1859 by the McClintock Search Expedition 1857-59.
It has a silver case an enamelled dial. It retains its hands and a full plate movement with an engraved back cock. The glass is missing and the condition is very rusty. It was issued to HMS 'Terror' in 1845. Lieutenant John Irving wrote to his sister Kate on 10 July 1845 'I have charge of our chronometers, which are little clocks. I have to wind them up and compare them, and write an account of their goings on - there are ten of them in each ship'.
McClintock's party reached this site on the 30 May and discovered that Hobson had been there a few days before on the 18 May. The boat was 28 foot long and mounted on a heavy sledge. McClintock found it just above high tide mark pointing back in the direction of the ships and containing a large quantity of abandoned personal possessions and two skeletons. |
